By Sara Jerving
Efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic across the African
continent, have been met by formidable hurdles. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation report, released Monday,
examines these challenges through the lens of governance performance in 54
African nations between 2010 through 2019, marking gains and losses during that
time frame.People stand in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Narok, Kenya
“To
be frank, the potential is there, but so are the hurdles and the challenges,”
said Nathalie Delapalme, executive director of the foundation, during a press
briefing.
Below
are the foundation’s top 10 takeaways:
• Unvaccinated and unregistered. Only about 6.8%
of the continent’s population is vaccinated for COVID-19 and only five African
countries are expected to hit the year-end global target of vaccinating 40% of
their populations. According to the foundation, there can be “no real recovery”
at these levels of vaccination.
Also,
many people living on the African continent aren’t legally registered — and
that impacts health policy and the ability for people to access public
services. More than 50% of children in Africa are not registered, and only 10%
of deaths are. This means COVID-19 cases and deaths could be vastly
underestimated and people might be left out of vaccination campaigns. Overall,
registration efforts on the continent were worse in 2019 than in 2010.
The
most improved countries in civil registration include Liberia, São Tomé and
Príncipe, Angola, Chad, and Côte d’Ivoire. Whereas the countries experiencing
the sharpest decline include Eritrea, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Egypt, and Sudan.
•
Out of reach. There is a high cost for many people to access health
care and not enough public investment. Only 10 countries provide citizens with
free, universal health coverage. Countries, through the 2001 Abuja Declaration,
were supposed to aim to allocate 15% of their budgets toward health spending,
but only seven countries have done this at least once since this goal was set.
In
sub-Saharan Africa, domestic health spending as a share of gross domestic
product was only 1.9% in 2018. Overall, health is less accessible in 2019, as
opposed to 2010.
The
most improved countries in this area were Mali, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire,
Comoros, and Morocco. Whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline
include Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Uganda, Namibia, and Eritrea.
• Pandemic preparedness. Following the International Health
Regulations is a sign of a country’s preparedness to handle health emergencies,
such as pandemics. Overall, Africa performs worse than other regions in the
world in compliance with these IHR rules. While there have been improvements,
there are warning signs since 2015 on deterioration of compliance in nations.
The
most improved countries were Seychelles, Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and
Mozambique. Whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline include
Benin, Gambia, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Malawi.
• Learning crisis. Even before the pandemic, African
students overall had the lowest minimum education proficiency levels in the
world. Since 2019, schools are better staffed, access is more equal for
genders, and there are higher enrollment and completion rates than in 2010, but
quality has also dropped.
The
most improved countries were Burundi, Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and
Sierra Leone, whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline include
Libya, Eritrea, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and Tunisia.
• Gender inequality. COVID-19 reversed gains in maternal and child
care in many African nations, and exposed women and girls to increased
gender-based violence. While socioeconomic progress for women has overall
increased equity among genders since 2010, legal systems to protect women
against violence are still insufficient.
The
most improved countries were Somalia, Kenya, Gambia, Republic of Congo, and
Zambia. Whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline include
Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Uganda, Ghana, and South Africa.
• Shrinking civil society. The space for
civil society organisations, media, and activists has declined since the early
2000s, with “these actors facing restricting laws and policies as well as
physical attacks, threats and discrimination,” according to the report.
In
media freedom, Gambia, Tunisia, Libya, Ethiopia, and Angola are the most
improved, whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline include
Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Benin, and Algeria.
• Insufficient safety nets. Overall, there
are not enough social programs for populations to weather rough times, such as
cash transfers, food support, and energy subsidization. “In many African
countries safety nets remain smaller in scope, and new initiatives have often
failed to reach all of those in need of assistance,” according to the report.
The
most improved countries were Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, São
Tomé and Príncipe. Whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline
include Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritius, and Gabon.
•
Low energy access. There are over 600 million people on the African
continent off energy grids. Only Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Seychelles had
universal electricity access in 2019.
Almost
all African nations have increased energy access to its citizens since 2010,
with Mauritius and Libya as the only countries in decline.
• Digital divide. “The digital economy is an area of
strength for African countries, enabling them to boost their economic
recoveries and in the process draw on a young generation of digital
entrepreneurs adapting to the new global conditions,” according to the report.
But access to computers and the internet is still unequal. In 2019, only 10
African countries had at least 50% of the households accessing the internet.
All
countries improved in this area on the continent, with Morocco, Tunisia,
Algeria, Kenya, and Cabo Verde improving the most.
• Inadequate intercontinental transport networks. While the newly
established African Continental Free Trade Area aims to empower countries
economically by facilitating trade through a single African market, there is
still a need to address nontariff barriers, such as the continent’s
insufficient transport infrastructure. “Without the infrastructure to ease
movement within the continent, intra-regional trade will continue to be costly
and inaccessible, regardless of tariff reductions,” according to the report.
The
most improved countries were Guinea, Tanzania, Burundi, Egypt, and Senegal.
Whereas the countries experiencing the sharpest decline include Togo, Liberia,
Republic of Congo, Libya, and Tunisia.
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